• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.33
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• pp.247-270
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• 2013

Kim, Yong-Hwan is a one of the South Korean major cartoonists between 1940s and 1960s. Kim, Yong-Hwan drew a variety of genres from children's cartoon to current-affair cartoon. Furthermore, Kim, Yong-Hwan took the lead in publishing cartoon magazine and newspaper after the Independence, and has been highly appreciated as a pioneer of Korean cartoon. Kim, Yong-Hwan created many works in the fields of illustrations, Oriental painting, history painting, caricature, etc. After going study for painting to Japan, Kim, Yong-Hwan made his debut as an illustrator called Kita Koji in Japan. However, not much is known about his works in Japan, only there is a simple data about his Japan period and some pieces of illustration during Japan years. In this paper, I examined in detail about Kim, Yong-Hwan's work activity in Japan which has been little known in Korea for a long time. I studied on illustrations in magazines and books which he drew in the name of Kita Koji, on the basis of the data of the National Diet Library of Japan. I could know that Kim, Yong-Hwan worked actively in a diversity of publishers and magazines. In addition, I could realize that many magazines in which Kim, Yong-Hwan drew illustrations were very popular ones. This demonstrates that Kim, Yong-Hwan was much recognized in Japan for his talent. However, a large number of Kim, Yong-Hwan's illustrations were published from late 1930s to mid-1940s. This period was the years that Japan concentrated all her energy for World War II. All the publishing were severely censored during this period. A majority of publishing in this period supported Japanese militarism, and glorified Japan's war policy. Kim, Yong-Hwan's illustrations were no exception, too. It was really sorry about his activity during his Japan period. This essay means a lot to a field of cartoon studies in terms of a collection of materials during Kim, Yong-Hwan's Japan period. Besides, I think that henceforth, this paper can contribute to a follow-up study on Kim, Yong-Hwan' work and his broad background.